The brand-new Aviva Studios, a.k.a. the official home of Factory International, has officially opened in Manchester and we got a first look at the impressive new cultural centrewhich first began construction back in 2017.
Marking the single biggest cultural investment project since the opening of the Tate Modern back in 2000, Aviva Studios is a state-of-the-art facility that sits as a striking new addition to the Mancunian skyline with its unique geometric exterior designed by OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture).
The launch, which gets off to an exciting start with its opening production ofFree Your Mind — a Danny Boyle-directed dance-driven recreation of The Matrix — is a historic day for the arts not only in the city but the nation in general, as Aviva Studios is now the biggest cultural institution anywhere in the UK.
Assembled using nearly £1 billion in funds from the government, National Lottery and Arts Council England, Factory International‘s new central hub for MIF (Manchester International Festival) and all other projects will promise to deliver original productions and special events across all art forms.
The coolest part about the 13,350-square-metre building is its multiple large, open and crucially flexible spaces that can be constantly reconfigured to allow multiple artists to create large-scale ambitious works of a kind not seen anywhere else in the world.
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For example, the 21-metre-high Warehouse is the ultimate flexible performance space with capacity for up to 5,000 people standing. It’s taller than four double-decker buses stacked on top of each other, just under the length of a Boeing 747 aeroplane and can be divided by a movable wall.
Meanwhile, the Hall features a flexible stage that can house an audience of up to 1,603 seated or 2,000 standing and both rooms can be opened up and combined to create one large stage. Ingenious stuff.
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This means that as many as three different full-scale artistic productions can be held simultaneously without any visual or noise interference bleeding into the other, thanks to the movable acoustic walls and sound-cancelling curtains which can block noises of up to 100 decibels. So, in theory, you could have a metal gig playing in one room and this mind-bending interactive show in the other.
Free Your Mind, the mind-altering live show running until 5 November, is a journey into The Matrix through dance, sound and fashion.
This is going to reconfigure your mind, body and spirit. After that, the rest is up to you.
From major exhibitions and concerts to intimate performances and immersive live experiences, there will be all kinds of shows and displays for Mancs to enjoy and will no doubt attract countless tourists from all over the world.
The programme for 2024 is already shaping up to be an extremely exciting project, with everything from a surreal retelling of Jungle Book, performances from the likes of Maxine Peake; the Olivier award-winning TRAPLORD, an interactive symphony with BBC Philharmonic (June 2024), a Johnny Marr double-header with a full orchestra and so much more.
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In fact, there is even an AR (augmented reality) installation already on display which is completely free for people to experience visiting during the day and, of course, plenty of food and bar spaces to enjoy when you’re not soaking in the culture.
There is so much going on here that it’s kind of hard to know where to start, but a good place might be checking out the programme HERE to see what’s on in the coming months and into next year.
Featured Image — Marco Cappelletti, courtesy of OMA and Factory International.
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Tyson Fury has announced he is returning to boxing yet again
Danny Jones
Tyson Fury has confirmed that he will once again be returning to the boxing ring for what feels like the umpteenth time.
Honestly, he’s come in and out of retirement so many times now that we’ve genuinely started to lose count at this point…
The Manc fighter last ‘retired’ back in January 2025, so it’s only fitting that, quite literally, almost exactly 12 months on from his last sabbatical, ‘The Gyspy King’ is making another comeback.
Sharing the almost entirely expected news at this point on social media, Fury said: “2026 is [the] year. Return of the Mac. Been away for a while, but I’m back now, 37 years old and still punching. Nothing better to do than punch men in the face and get paid for it.”
Even prior to his own announcement, the Wythenshawe-born boxer had shared multiple updates online about ‘sharpening the edge’ following his hiatus.
Earlier this month, he posted another video of himself sparring along with a caption that read: “This is how I spent my New Year. Grinding and working my ass off!
“Couldn’t think of anything better to do than this! Great things come to those who work hard. All in the name of Jesus, Little by little, on the daily, we keep climbing.”
Another clip of him hitting the punchbag with fight coaches and other members of his entourage has also surfaced online.
There’s no question that he’s still one of the biggest pugilists on the planet, but not everyone is convinced he’s tacked on the right kind of mass.
Fury often piles on weight between bouts and has fought plenty with size on his side, too.
He notably trimmed down to one of his lightest competitive statures ever for the first fight against heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, but even bulking back up wasn’t enough to secure victory.
As for his next opponent, the expectation of a third fight against Usyk is there somewhere down the line, but many feel this could also be the time we finally get to see Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua.
Featured Images — High Performance Podcast (screenshot)/@Mike_DiDomizio (via WikiCommons)
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Manchester has been named one of the UK’s top property hotspots for 2026
Emily Sergeant
Manchester has been revealed as one of the most-searched places to move to in the UK according to annual data.
Every year, leading property listing website, Rightmove, takes a look at all the cities, towns, and residential areas across the UK where people searched for homes to live in most, and puts together an interesting top 10 list.
From the suburban neighbourhoods and coastal escapes, to country communities, overseas destinations, and everything in betweeen, Rightmove has been digging into the numbers and trends to see where house-hunters dreamed of moving to the most last year, and found that this year’s trends tell ‘an interesting story’.
Manchester has been named one of the UK’s property hotspots for 2026 / Credit: James Feaver (via Unsplash)
Property experts say this year’s ‘hotspot’ list is shaped by lifestyle changes, shifting priorities, and economic influences that are reshaping demand.
As was to be expected, major cities dominated UK property searches in 2025.
London continued to ‘lead the way’ as the country’s main urban hub, with close to 10 million people calling the English capital home currently, meaning it, unsurprisingly, claimed the top spot when it came to area searches – but Manchester wasn’t very close behind.
Top 10 most-searched UK cities on Rightmove 2025
London
Manchester
Glasgow
Bristol
Edinburgh
York
Bath
Cornwall
Liverpool
Sheffield
Our city claimed second place on the list, with several other major northern cities featuring in the top 10 too, including York, Sheffield, and Liverpool.
Glasgow is third on the list, while Bristol and Edinburgh rounded out the top five.
“Our review of the year spotlights some of the most popular trends from 2025,” explained Rightmove’s property expert, Colleen Babcock.
Danny Jones -
18th October 2023 
